


talk about

by idaluiso_noir



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Ambiguity, Binge Drinking, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Drunkenness, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hunk is going to jail, Implied/Referenced Sex, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron)-centric, M/M, Morning After, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Pidge Uses They/Them Pronouns, Pining, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 08 Finale, References to Depression, References to Weight Loss, Shiro is Tired, also coran is really good at karaoke, also i cant remember half the spellings for things, listen i'm trying to salvage whats left skskksks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:20:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29541570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idaluiso_noir/pseuds/idaluiso_noir
Summary: Three years since Allura sacrificed herself and Voltron disbanded, Lance comes to a realisation about some things.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 53





	talk about

**Author's Note:**

> henlo, i've once again returned to voltron ao3. you might remember me from the galtean klance au 'fourteen quintants' (rip) and the various other klangst aus i wrote. if not, hello! i'm turning over a new leaf...and writing klangst again. this one is just pure fluff and crack idk what to say. i rewatched vld a couple weeks ago after abandoning ship the day s7 dropped, and i made it to the end... to say i was disappointed was an understatement. so i wrote this! i'd been thinking about it a lot and while s8 was a mess, i think a lot of it could simply be fixed with better writing. so heres a post-canon klance fic that i wrote in the year of 2021! sorry for any spelling/grammar errors!
> 
> enjoy~
> 
> [CONTENT WARNING: grief-induced depression, weight loss, binge drinking, reference to underage drinking, Pidge is technically legal but warning anyway, also its ambiguous at the beginning whether klance slept together while drunk, spoiler: they did not]

When Lance dreamed, he dreamed of space; the stars, infinity, and the abyss. Some nights, space was calming, comforting, familiar. Other nights it was horrific and harrowing, the unknown becoming sinister. Lance found that, on these particular nights, he woke up from his nightmares with an ache in his heart. He’d clutch his chest over his sweat-soaked sleep shirt and force calming breaths down his raw throat. 

These nights, he’d miss Allura; he’d miss her smile, her laugh, her hand in his, warm and safe. His love for Allura had been painful, what started out as teenage infatuation became a violent longing that had him high as a kite when she was near, and suddenly hollow when she wasn’t. Maybe that was unhealthy, but he couldn’t care less when she’d finally returned his feelings.

Three years later and he still wasn’t over it.

But tonight’s dreams of the starry expanse were...confusing. It was melancholy as Lance drifted through it, curly brown hair floating about his face - no need for a space suit in one’s dreams. There was an aching sadness that carved at his heart and his feet touched down on a cool, glass like surface. A twin thump sounded, and Lance realised it was his boots landing against the surface. He could see his reflection beneath him, as well as the glittery abyss beyond. Distant planets twinkled and beat throughout the universe, as if it were alive. And Lance noticed, horribly, that he was once again cloaked in his paladin armour. Gleaming cerulean and ivory shone upon his breast, arms, and legs. Curiously, he lifted his gloved hand in front of him, in awe that he once again donned this armour. It had felt so long, and no dream had ever felt like this before.

A roar sounded to his right and he spun to face the noise. Someone was charging toward him, bearing the same blue armour, helmet up and red broadsword held up to their shoulder, ready to strike. In horror, Lance recognised himself beneath the helmet.

He managed to roll out of the way before Other-Lance could land a strike and he saw the furious snarl of his teeth beneath the helmet.

Lance gasped, “What-!?”

Other-Lance roared again and he spun around to swing once more. Lance dodged frantically. The broadsword was cumbersome, heavy, which made Other-Lance slower than his counterpart. Lance used this to his advantage, managing to keep pace instead of his previously frantic stumble to evade Other-Lance. “ _ Fight back, coward! _ ” Other-Lance growled and attempted to swing again. 

Lurching to the floor, Lance gasped when Other-Lance tried to bring the sword down on top of him. He managed to roll away, though and furrowed his brow as he swiped a leg out. The broadsword had wedged itself into the glass and Other-Lance struggled to yank it out.

Lance struck his assailant, taking his legs out from beneath him. Other-Lance was sent tumbling to the floor, sword still submerged within the crystal-like glass. Swiftly, Lance got to his feet and - as the broadsword disappeared in a flash of light - held his hand out in front of Other-Lance. His bayard rematerialised in his grip, taking the form of a hand-blaster, pointed straight at his mirror self.

Other-Lance merely grinned up at him. It was an unnerving, feral type of grin that made Lance pause and release a shaky breath. A pinch formed between his brows but it quickly returned to a scowl when Other-lance began to chuckle. His grip tightened on his blaster, finger quivering on the trigger. Other-Lance cackled maniacally and Lance grit his teeth. He could take the shot, he  _ should  _ take the shot. But why? Why had this other-him tried to attack him? Why was he dreaming like this? This was not how it was supposed to go. 

Then, Other-Lance’s laugh became more recognisable, his own laugh, joyful, fun, happy. A laugh he’d not heard from himself in a long time. Tears appeared in Other-Lance’s eyes as he sobered.

That feral grin returned to his face and he held his hand out, to Lance where the blaster disappeared from his hand, and reappeared in his mirror’s.

Lance didn’t feel the shot, but saw it - saw it carve right through his heart.

⇜⧭⇝

When Lance awoke, he groaned. He felt like shit, not only from his very weird dream but from the very persistent hangover currently pulsing in his forehead and churning his stomach. It’s obvious he’d had too much nunvile last night.

He took stock of himself. He tried opening his eyes but immediately shut them against the glaring sun outside. He must not have remembered to shut the blinds last night. Last night...Right! It was their third reunion after Allura...Died. When Allura died three years ago. Lance sighed, which only made his wobbling stomach  _ worse _ . He groaned again, trying to recollect anything from last night, but no such luck. Hopefully, it would come back to him throughout the day. He huffed a weak chuckle, sometimes that was the best part about getting wasted.

He lifted a hand to rub at his eyes but- Wait, what is that? His hand bumped something as he tried to draw it from underneath the covers. He splayed his hand against it, and his eyes flew open when he realised it - whatever it was - was warm and...moving? Breathing?

He kept his eyes focused on the ceiling, headache still hammering into his skull. He was glad to see that he was in his own room in the castle, his stupid posters he collected at seventeen still plastered on the walls.

Most were of him, Allura, and him and Allura with the rest of the Voltron team.

Okay, so, worst case scenario: he’s slept with somebody (even after his bereft vow of celibacy after Allura’s death) the question was, who was it in his bed?

Unless he’d decided to slink off to an Altean club last night, it was most likely someone within the New Castle of Lions last night. Romelle? She was pretty but Lance hoped not. Coran? Lance rolled his eyes at the ridiculousness. Shiro was married now and Lance didn’t like to think of himself as a homewrecker. Hunk…? Lance wouldn’t really mind if it was Hunk to be honest but he  _ did  _ have that thing with Shay so…

Surely it wasn’t Pidge, they’d been non-stop blabbing about their new robot girlfriend last night while he’d been drunkenly flirting with K-

_ Oh no _ .

Sure enough, when Lance turned his head to the side, he was met with a dark mop of hair and he whimpered.

Oh, fuck, what did he  _ do _ ? Narrowing his eyes, he felt that yes, he was most definitely naked  _ but _ ...his ass didn’t hurt. Which either meant that he and his old rival Keith Kogane did, in fact, not sleep together last night.  _ Or _ ...that he topped.

No, no, he couldn’t think about this right now. His stomach groaned and his head pounded, so he did what any rational, hungover twenty-year-old who possibly slept with the guy they had a  _ little  _ crush on would do.

He ran away.

_ Lance McClain, you fucking idiot _ , he swore to himself as he gingerly krept from the bed. He hopped around the minefield of clothing to his dresser and silently dressed, all the while keeping an eye on Keith’s bare shoulders as they rose and fell with each sleepy breath.

As he threw a loose blue off-the-shoulder top on, he found himself watching Keith’s sleeping form. It was strange to see him so peaceful, when Awake-Keith was usually anything but. Yes, he was quiet sometimes but that would be a calculating, simmering, watchful quiet. This was just...Keith.

With a sigh, he padded over to the full length mirror and took himself in. There were bags under his eyes, and his black sweatpants were certainly quite baggy on him but Lance couldn’t think about that right now. He looked surprisingly young, though. Back on Earth, he always thought he looked older, the years without Allura weighing heavily on him.

But here, in the clothes he’d left here when he’d moved back to Earth, he looked...like how he used to.

Rolling his eyes, Lance waved a dismissive hand at his reflection and grabbed a pair of slippers from the shoe rack. He was nearly at the door when the rustling of sheets made him halt.

“Lance?” a low voice called sleepily.

Startled, Lance turned gingerly, witty quip on the tip of his tongue but the sight of Keith nestled within his bedsheets, dark hair falling messily over his brow, dark eyes peering at him softly, gave him pause.

Lance opened his mouth to talk but his tongue was dry and his voice refused to speak. Instead, his mouth hung open in awe. Keith was gorgeous, there was no doubt about that. Lance used to think this a lot when they’d still worked together as paladins and when they had been (were they ever?) friends. There were times, just like now, when the light would hit Keith  _ just  _ right, and it looked like a pretty halo around his pretty head.

Keith’s sharp eyes seemed to study Lance for a moment, raking up his body awkwardly standing by the door, to the slippers dangling from his long fingers. Eyes widening, they slid around the room, taking in the posters, the clothes on the floor, the open blinds, the bed he was lying in. He looked panicked from the unfamiliar surroundings, shoulders tense as his breath stopped.

“Oh, yeah,” he then dismissed and relaxed back into the bed. Just normal sleepy Keith again while Lance gaped from the door.

“‘Oh yeah’!?” Lance burst. “What do you mean ‘Oh, yeah’!?” he blanched.

“ _ Oh, yeah _ ,” Keith enunciated. “We slept together,” he provided, rolling his eyes.

“And you’re not freaked out by that!?” Lance squeaked.

Keith groaned and turned onto his back. “No,” he answered honestly. “Are  _ you? _ ” he asked before stretching his limbs beneath the covers.

Lance frowned, was he? He dropped his slippers on the floor and stuffed his feet into them, the fluffy warmth a direct contrast to the cold tile flooring. “Well, yeah,” he rationalised. “We obviously had too much to drink last night, a-and I swore off sex and dating a long time ago,” he scowled and folded his arms over his chest.

“ _ Oh _ ,” Keith said, he’d collapsed back into the nest of pillows and sheets, staring at the ceiling. Then, he pushed himself up into sitting, the covers coming to bunch in his lap as he leaned back in his palms. “Well, uh, I’m sorry, I guess?” he looked sheepish as he regarded Lance from beneath his messy bangs. His fingers itched to push them back. “You’re not...hurt, are you?”

Lance looked down at himself, then dragged his confused gaze back up to Keith. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Okay,” he said. “Good.”

Narrowing his eyes, Lance prodded. “You sound sad. Why are you sad?” He planted his hands on his hips.

Keith pouted as he thought to himself. “Uh,” he began and made to get up from the bed. Prudish, Lance turned around so he faced the door, trying to will away the warmth from his cheeks. Behind him, Keith picked through the clothes from the floor, trying to find his own. “I liked to think we had fun last night - even before we…” he let the words hang in the air as he picked up his boxers and slid them on. “You seemed happy, like genuinely happy.”

Lance didn’t know what to say, his shoulders drooped and his teeth began to pick at his lower lip. Was he not happy? Before last night? Content, maybe, but happy?

Keith pulled his jeans on and buckled his belt. “But you’re right, we were both way too drunk, so I understand if you regret it and wanna forget it.”

Shifting to lean against the closet, Lance thought to himself. Did he regret it? He felt weird, sure. Keith was someone he found attractive, genuinely liked, and looked up to. The thought of sleeping with  _ Keith  _ didn’t bother him, really. More like sleeping with  _ anyone _ , as if he betrayed Allura by sharing a bed with anyone but her.

“I think,” he started, turning to face Keith as he buttoned up his red flannel, “this is too much for how fucked my head is right now,” he dismissed with a small chuckle.

Keith returned it, doing up the last button. “We oughta get breakfast, then,” he suggested with an easy-going smile.

Nodding his agreement, Lance smiled back and pushed the button to open his door. As Keith padded over, a thought struck Lance. “Ya know, it’s weird,” he lingered in the doorway. “How do we  _ know  _ we fucked?”

Keith paused to think, dark brow arched elegantly. “I don’t know,” he resolved, shrugging. “Does your ass hurt?” he quipped as he passed Lance into the hallway.

Lance blanched before following. “Don’t you mean,” he scowled, “ _ your  _ ass?”

Keith stopped again, brows pinched as he looked at Lance in confusion. “No?” he paused, chewing on the inside of his cheek with pursed lips. Involuntarily, Lance’s memory was triggered, the ghost of that same mouth on his skin, on his lips. The smell of sweat and alcohol. “Maybe we just, I don’t know,  _ slept  _ together,” Keith’s speculative voice snapped Lance back to reality. “In the same bed. Naked. In each other’s arms.” Keith’s voice became more robotic, strained with each revelation.

Lance snorted and turned away to set off down the hall. “That’s pretty gay, bro,” he quipped, hoping that his flustered state wasn’t obvious.

Keith stood in the doorway, face screwed up in confusion as he processed Lance’s  _ audacity _ . “I’m literally a homosexual,” Keith blanched as he jogged to catch up to Lance.

⇜⧭⇝

It seemed  _ everyone _ got a bit too rowdy last night, if the vast spread of breakfast plates, coffee and hangover cures on the dining table were anything to go by. Fruit, baked goods, bacon, goo and many pots of coffee and tea sat upon the table practically  _ begging  _ to be eaten. The smell of warm pancakes and maple syrup both made Lance’s mouth drool but also flipped his stomach. Hangovers were not foreign to Lance but they’d been less than frequent over the past couple of years.

“Oh, good, you guys are up,” Pidge greeted with a knowing grin. Their chin-length hair was sleep-mussed and they sat cross-legged in their green pyjamas at the table. Their breakfast currently consisted of a large chocolate sundae. Lance tasted bile at the sight.

“Good morning,  _ Pidge _ ,” Keith snarked as he came up to the also-hungover ex-paladin. He ruffled their hair, earning him a growl. “If I remember right, you had a  _ bit  _ too much to drink last night.”

“Hmm?” Lance joined in, hands on his hips as he leaned in with a nosey smirk. “Did our little Pidge get a little too wasted?”

Pidge groaned and Keith left them alone to round the table. “Hey, I’m eighteen now,” they stuck their nose in the air as Keith took his seat across from them. Lance found himself following. “That means I’m legal in Europe,” they announced matter-of-factly.

“Ah, but you’ve still gotta be careful,” Lance chastised with a knowing smile as he took the seat next to Keith..

“Who are you?” they quipped, pushing their hair out of their face. “My dads?” They grabbed their cutlery once more and dug into the rest of their sundae.

“Colleen’s gonna kill them,” Keith whispered to Lance.

“Mhmm,” he smirked. When he looked up again, he was met with Pidge’s shit-eating grin. “What?” he stared back.

Pidge said nothing, but their eyes flickered to Keith as he piled waffles onto his plate. They waggled their eyebrows.

Lance grinned awkwardly, a bashful blush heating up his cheeks.

Pidge’s smirk only deepened as they sucked another mouthful of sundae of their spoon.

Rolling his eyes, Lance began grabbing all sorts of carbs and shoveling them onto his plate; toast, waffles, pancakes, crepes. He knew it was disgusting but he didn’t know how much longer his stomach would hold on. Involuntarily, Lance was reminded of the taste of Keith’s skin and he choked on a bite of waffle. This drew Keith’s concerned gaze but Lance waved it off as he reached to guzzle his glass of orange juice.

They all ate hungrily, Pidge filling the air with recollections of the night before while Keith and Lance pointedly ignored the elephant in the room.

“And then- And then,” Pidge recounted excitedly. “Coran and Shiro started singing some Altean karaoke  _ but _ Shiro couldn’t read the Altean so he just ended up singing Backstreet Boys instead,” they cackled manically. “So Hunk hacked into Shiro’s phone and texted ‘gay’ to all his contacts,” they gasped as Lance chuckled along with them. “But then he tried to turn himself in because he was scared he committed a crime and started sobbing.”

Keith chuckled. “Poor bastard, I take it he’s not been arrested then?”

“Nope,” Pidge leaned back in their seat. “I tried to wake him this morning but he threw a shoe at me.”

Lance sighed, “Classic Hunk Hangover,” he thought back. “Once, we broke into the teachers’ lounge and stole a bottle of vodka. Hoo, boy, we were chugging that shit until we got caught and oh my god we were comatose as soon as we hit fresh air.” He smiled at the memory. “But anyways, what was I doing last night? I can’t remember much and I can’t find my phone.”

Pidge tapped their chin as they tried to remember. “Uh, I remember you challenging Keith to a drinking contest-”“

Lance interrupted, “Oh, that doesn’t sound so bad-”

“Which turned into a flirting contest-”

“Oh, no,” Lance’s stomach dropped with dread. Keith sighed and his face fell into his hand propped on the table.

“Which then turned into a ‘make out contest’ by which point I looked away and averted my eyes because I’m a minor-”

“You’re eighteen!” Lance blanched.

Pidge continued. “And I didn’t want to see a couple of old men making out,” they pouted, folding their arms.

“I’m literally twenty-two,” Keith scowled.

“ _ Old _ ,” Pidge enunciated.

Lance dropped back into his chair, leaning against it. A faint smile pulled at his lips as Keith and Pidge continued arguing. He missed this, he genuinely did. He wondered how they were all still friends if they barely saw each other once a year, but now that he was here again, watching Keith and Pidge bicker just like old times, he understood.  _ Maybe _ , he thought to himself sadly,  _ I should’ve made more of an effort _ .

“You look sad. Why are you sad?”

Lance blinked back into the present and turned to see Keith watching him curiously. He’d used the same line Lance quipped earlier. Sighing, Lance tore his gaze away from Keith’s before it burned and picked his fork back up. “Just lamenting,” he replied honestly, jabbing at a piece of waffle and dragging it through the leftover syrup on his plate. “I didn’t really make an effort to keep in contact over the years.” He popped the bite of waffle into his mouth and dropped his fork down again.

Keith arched a brow. “Don’t be stupid, we weren’t exactly sociable either,” he countered and Pidge nodded in agreement. “Besides,” he added, “You were grieving.”

Lance sighed and his mouth dipped into a frown, hands coming up to hug himself. 

“Yeah,” Pidge chimed in. “We’re not gonna hold it against you that you were in a depression hole.”

“But it’s because of that depression hole that I missed out on so much,” Lance argued. “Last night must’ve been the most fun I’ve had in  _ years _ .”

Pidge’s lips pursed in concern while Keith continued to watch Lance, gaze burning into his skin. It was really sad, now that he thought about it. He used to think how noble he was for giving up his life in outer space to settle down on a farm. How he felt he had to honour Allura’s life by giving up his own. He’d forced himself to age ten years at seventeen. He was twenty years old for fuck’s sake, he had his whole life to live, but he’d thrown it away for - what? Punishment? Was he punishing himself? Was  _ fate _ punishing him?

With calm resolve, Pidge untucked themselves from their perch at the table, and padded around it, fingers fishing their phone from their pocket as they neared Keith and Lance. “I was going through the videos from last night this morning,” they were saying as they sandwiched themself between them. “You might wanna watch it,” they smiled. “Mostly because it’s funny as fuck, but also because you seem to need it, Lance.”

Keith and Lance leaned in as Pidge pressed play and Pidge’s less-hungover-more-drunk self appeared on screen.

“ _ Hey, guysss~ _ ” Drunken-Pidge greeted and waved to the camera, then let out a loud belch. “ _ Mmm welcome to my dank ass party, SHOUT OUT TO ALLURA, I MISS YOU BITCH, _ ” Pidge screamed then started tearing up. “ _ Oh, quiznak, I miss her so much, _ ” they sobbed.

The next clip played, depicting Lance swaying with his shoe on head to whatever Altean dance music Coran had put on. Lance chuckled to himself as he watched, the memory coming back.

The next clip showed the screaming match between Coran and Shiro as the former loudly sang in Altean in an attempt to score high in this round of karaoke, the latter was belting the lyrics to ‘Everybody’ and had somehow lost his formal Atlas uniform. But lo and behold, in the next clip he was slinging it around his head.

The trio laughed at the image of their commanding officer acting so goofily. Lance  _ knew  _ Pidge would be holding this clip over his head for a  _ while _ .

Hunk appeared next, on his knees, pleading with Pidge through the camera. “ _ Pidge! Pidge! I’ve committed a crime, _ ” he sobbed. “ _ A terribly gay crime! They’re gonna lock me away forever!” _

Lance snickered as Drunken-Pidge tried to calm him down. “ _ Bro, bro, oh my god, _ ” they groaned. “ _ What did you do? Why are they gonna lock you up, bro? _ ” they slurred.

Hunk warbled. “ _ I-I took Sh-Shiro’s pho-one ‘n I text-ed ‘gay’ to all his c-contacts- PIDGE, THEY’RE GONNA LOCK ME UP, HELP!”  _ he burst out, eyes welling up with tears as he imagined the horrors. 

Pidge was silent as Hunk began to rock back and forth. Finally, they sighed and placed their hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look up. “ _ Have a good time in prison, buddy, _ ” was all they offered before stumbling away, Hunk’s screams following them.

Pidge cackled now, joined by Lance and Keith.

The video cut and suddenly Lance was there now. “ _Haha, stole Pidge’s phone!”_ Lance was cackling as he appeared to be skipping down a hallway. “ _Pidge, if you see this, I love you!_ ” he was teasing, out-of-breath from the skipping, but he pulled the camera closer to press a kiss to it.

“ _ Lance~ _ ” another voice called, making Lance shriek playfully.

“ _ Oh, no, now Keith is after me~”  _ he taunted and began running with the phone in front of him. But it was quickly evident that Lance tired out and soon Keith caught up to him with a playful, drunken grin on his face. He tackled Lance with a yelp and they - and the phone - fell to the floor. 

The phone was still recording, pointed to the vaulted ceilings of the castle. Distantly, the music from the party could be picked up by the phone’s mic but more persistent was the sounds of laughter, Lance’s own...and Keith’s.

“ _ Wait, _ ” Keith was saying between cackles. “ _ Wait, stop _ ,” they both seemed to sober up and now only their gasps took up the empty hallway. “ _ I wanna be serious for a tick, _ ” Keith began. “ _ I know...’m not Allura. _ ”

Now, Lance’s brow furrowed.

“ _ But I know what you’re going through _ ,” Keith’s slurred speech continued. “ _ I want to help, but I can’t do that if you keep pulling away from me, from us _ .”

Lance didn’t want to hear anymore, the shame creeping back. He remembered what happened at this moment, he remembered the pain...but also the comfort.

There was a long pause as the phone continued to record the ceiling, but both Lance and Keith knew what came next.

Finally, sniffles were picked up by the mic, and then Lance’s warbling voice spoke out into the dark. “ _ ‘M sorry, _ ” he’d sniffed. “ _ I just miss her, so much. _ ”

“ _ That’s okay, _ ” Keith’s soft voice had comforted. “ _ You can grieve as much as you want. _ ” Then, Keith’s voice came quieter, softer. Lance remembered his weight on top of him, his breath fanning over his face, smelling distinctly of alcohol but also something very  _ Keith _ . “ _ Just remember that you have to  _ live,  _ too, _ ” Keith had offered and Lance remembered the clumsy press of his lips to Lance’s.

The video cut and Pidge finally had their phone back. “ _ Stinky Lance thought he could steal you from me, hmm? _ ” they were saying as they walked back through the hallway. The sounds of the party grew louder as they drew closer once again. “ _ Surprised he didn’t crack you, actually, _ ” they commented before patting the top of the phone as if it were a pet which - to Pidge - it probably was. They then appeared to walk through a door and the party was put on full blast along with Pidge’s confused expression. “ _ What the-? _ ”

Cutting again, the video now showed the four remaining paladins and Coran dancing to whatever retro music Shiro had managed to put on. As the song threatened its climax, Lance and Shiro got into position opposite each other, Hunk hooting from the side as Pidge nervously crawled closer.

Then Lance started running.

“ _ Because~ _ ” the song sung.

Lance lept but Shiro caught him perfectly, lifting him up as if he were flying as Lance spread his arms.

“ _ I~ had~ the time of my life~” _

Behind the camera, Pidge laughed nervously.

Lance looked graceful as Shiro slowly spun him around, gleeful grin on his face, Altean markings glowing and cheeks dusted with rose.

Keith, upon noticing Pidge’s recording, pointed excitedly at Lance and proclaimed, “ _ That’s my boyfriend, look at him! _ ”

Now, Keith chuckled nervously and itched his temple. He then sobered and prodded Pidge’s phone to pause the video. “Okay, that’s enough,” Keith sighed. “Please spare me any more embarrassment.”

Pidge pouted but slunk away nonetheless. “Aw, but it’s fun,” they whined as they padded back to their seat.

Keith just folded his arms and began his usual brooding when he didn’t know how to communicate in certain social situations. Lance could read him like a book. But, fuck, this shit was so complicated. Well, not entirely complicated, they just kinda  _ made  _ it complicated. Pidge pretended not to see the tension at the table and instead finished their breakfast watching some livestreamer instead.

Thankfully, they were saved by the disheveled and angry appearance of Shiro.

“Who  _ the FUCK  _ stole my phone last night!”

⇜⧭⇝

Lance noticed that his hair had gotten curlier over the years. Probably because he stopped giving a fuck about cutting it and just let it do its thing. It drifted in the wind as he strolled through the gardens, soft brown waves floating in front of his face. 

He craned his neck to look up at the vast statue of his dead girlfriend. Juniberries swayed in the wind around him, just how she wanted. He’d planted a lot of these juniberries, toiled to make her garden the best it could be while he stayed in Altea. It’d broken his heart when he’d moved back to Earth, anxious about not being close to her. But Allura was all over the universe, the multiverse. She was in the air he breathed, the trees that grew tall, the rain that poured and the sun that shone. He didn’t need to miss her,  _ never _ needed to, she was everywhere, and he regretted mourning so destructively.

Allura would have wanted him to  _ live _ .

_ Just remember you have to  _ live,  _ too,  _ Keith’s words echoed. Along with the kiss he’d pressed to Lance’s lips..

Lance touched his fingertips to his mouth, feeling the ghost of the kiss. His mind drifted once more to the night before; to the heavy breaths, explorative touches and heated kisses. Lance was now sure that nothing  _ major  _ happened between him and Keith last night. Keith had been the first to pass out, snorting and giggling into the crook of Lance’s neck. Lance had whined that he was tired but didn’t want to stop. Sleepily, Keith had warned that they were too drunk, they could resume in the morning. But Lance, tracing clumsy circles onto Keith’s bare shoulder with a fingertip, had reasoned they’d just go back to being rivals. No they wouldn’t, Keith had slurred, he liked Lance too much to let that happen-

“Thought I’d find you out here.”

Lance almost jumped out of his skin, shrieking at Keith’s sudden appearance behind him. Regaining his composure, he forced out a calming breath and tried to will away the blush on his cheeks. “Just, uh, communing with the statue of my dead girlfriend,” Lance provided.

“I,” he started, coming to a stop beside Lance, “I think we need to talk.”

_ Oh, no _ . Lance’s shoulders tensed.  _ Here it comes _ .

He was confused and nothing made sense anymore. He had to confront some things, exactly as Keith was now, but that meant…

He sighed. “Talk about what?” he asked, there was  _ lots  _ to talk about.

“Uh, us, what happened last night,” he scratched the back of his neck. “What  _ could  _ happen…”

Lance looked over, curiously. “‘What  _ could  _ happen?’” he echoed. He knew what Keith was getting at but he also needed it spelled out.

Keith let out a frustrated sigh. “Look, we can’t pretend like last night didn’t happen, that we didn’t sleep together-”

“Well, we  _ did _ . We slept in the same bed,” Lance butt in, frowning as he thought to himself. “Naked.”

Keith twitched. “Whatever,” he growled then took a calming breath. “We got drunk, we made out,” he began to list, “we made out...again,” he listed another finger confusedly. “And then we were,” he coughed, “intimate.”

Lance didn’t correct him this time, but found it amusing nonetheless.

“I don’t regret it,” Keith confessed, gaze cast up to Allura’s stoney, demure features. “Like, at all. If you do, though - regret it, that is,” he turned to Lance again, “we can sweep it under the rug and move on-”

He was stopped by Lance’s finger on his lips.

“Nope, I’m gonna stop you right there,” Lance butt in again. He frowned as the breeze picked up and kicked up Keith’s hair with it. The dark locks had gotten too long, and Lance had the sudden urge to tie it back with a hair tie. He settled with removing his finger from Keith’s mouth to tuck a stray lock behind his ear.

The wind began to die down.

“I like you, okay?” Lance confessed, then scowled. “Stop looking confused, like do you not  _ see  _ that you’re hot?” Lance gestured wildly at Keith’s confused expression. Slapping his forehead, Lance tried again, “You’re like insanely attractive, plus you’ve got that whole dark and mysterious vibe about you,” he pointed, “but I  _ know  _ that’s just how your awkwardness presents itself since you’re so incredibly emotionally constipated-”

Keith started walking away. “Okay, I’m not about to get ridiculed-”

“Waitwaitwaitwait,  _ wait _ ,” Lance stopped him with a hand against his chest. “The point I’m trying to make is that I like you,” Lance insisted. “I have for a long time, but I thought you didn’t like me back because,” he shrugged, “emotionally constipated, remember? With Allura it was easy because worst case scenario she’d just drop kick me, but with you…” he released a breath and curled his fingers against Keith’s chest. “I didn’t wanna run the risk of losing a friend.” He forced himself to meet Keith’s gaze.

They stared at each other for a while, so long Lance thought his eyes would set alight and melt from their sockets. But they didn’t. Instead, Keith began to chuckle, and Lance allowed himself to smile.

“You’re a mess,” Keith remarked.

Lance scowled playfully. “No, you,” he countered.

Rolling his eyes, Keith tugged Lance closer, same amused smile on his lips. He confessed, “I like you, too.” Lance wanted to coo at how adorably pink his cheeks were getting. “Always did, one way or another. You were just so obsessed with Allura I…” he trailed off and looked away.

“Well, ya got me there,” Lance admitted. “But I was also obsessed with  _ you _ ,” he smirked. “So, let’s just admit we’re both dumb losers with crushes on each other.”

“Ooo, you wanna kiss me so bad,” Keith taunted.

Lance pouted. “Hey, that’s my line!” he scowled then realised how close they’d gotten.

“Kiss me, then?” Keith half-teased, half-asked.

The wind picked up once more and Lance grinned. He felt so light, so happy, possibly the happiest he felt in a long time. They both burned, warm and bright. When their lips met, Lance burned brightest. He tugged Keith closer, arm around his waist while his other hand held his jaw. He smiled against Keith’s mouth, diving in for another kiss as Keith held his face delicately. He didn’t know how long they stayed there, an eternity beneath Allura’s serene stone gaze, just kissing, smiling, laughing and kissing again.

The sun beat down, warm and comforting as the wind became a gentle breeze, bringing up goosebumps on bare skin like a gentle caress. As his lips slid over Keith’s, he let out a relieved sigh, wondering if Allura was watching them from somewhere in the multiverse. When they broke away, they were both grinning and they shared one last quick peck before Keith took his hand to lead him back inside. “C’mon, Shiro wants to take another photo before we all leave,” he prompted as Lance jogged up to walk by his side.

“Dare you to kiss me on the cheek just as he’s taking it,” Lance taunted, running ahead to pull Keith along this time. 

⇜⧭⇝

When Lance dreamed, he dreamed of space; the stars, infinity, and the abyss. The stars were comforting, full of warmth and light that made his heart bloom with love. He felt watched over, cared for, he knew it was Allura. The scent was distinctly of juniberries and the glow of space took on a very specific shade of crystalline blue. And the next time Lance woke up with a dark mop of hair on the pillow next to him, it was with a lot more love in his heart, and a lot less guilt.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed, please tell me what you think! what you liked, what you disliked (tho no mean comments please!) or a simple kudos would be much appreciated!! i'm considering making this a series? like little episodic fics that continue all my lil headcanons, lemme know what you think! (really it depends on how long my hyperfixation lasts). but anyways, thanks for reading!!
> 
> until next time~
> 
> tumblr: @idaluiso-noir


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